What's Driving Wealthy Indians to Leave India

The country is no stranger to waves of emigration. But a geo-economist sees in the latest wave — of its moneyed elite — a vote of no confidence in its economy.

- Ravi Velloor

Since 2016, the largest source of immigrants to Canada has been India. After Brexit, South Asian nations led by India sent the most numerous immigrants to the United Kingdom.

Australia once preferred immigrants from Britain and Ireland. Around the turn of the century and until about 2010, the Chinese led the numbers. Latterly, it has been Indians who have been the top immigrants.

Why do so many Indians leave India? The South Asian giant, now the world's largest by population, has a briskly expanding economy. Its people have wide access to the world, thanks to a booming aviation sector that's reaching Tier 2 cities — flights to Singapore's Changi Airport alone number 290 a week — and an increasing number of countries offering them visa-free entry or visas on arrival.

From Himalayan glades to beaches to wildlife sanctuaries, there's so much of the country to enjoy. Hindu and Buddhist pilgrims have plenty of spots to visit. And if shopping is your passion, both classy local and foreign designer labels are easily available. Ditto, if you are looking for rejuvenation therapy.

What then is it that India cannot offer that makes emigration such a cherished goal, even for its elite classes?

The truth of the matter is that Indians, particularly from the coastal areas, have always been great migrants — just as they have been welcoming of people arriving from distant lands. An old saw has it, for instance, that when Neil Armstrong and Edwin Aldrin landed on the moon, they were approached by a man from Kerala who ran a tea shop there.

A common word for Muslims in that south-western Indian state is moplah, a corruption of mapilla or son-in-law. Why so? Because Arab traders seeking the state's rich spices had brought Islam to the state in the 7th century, and some fell into the practice of taking local wives.

When Islam became the dominant West Asian faith, Muslim Arabs and their local descendants came to be called moplahs.